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Students look at mental health

Andrea Barrow, one of the organizers of a mental health conference for high school students held Tuesday at Duncan McArthur Hall, puts handprints signed by the participating students on sheet of paper hung on a wall.
Michael Lea The Whig-Standard

About 200 local high school students spent their day Tuesday learning how to recognize and deal with the symptoms and effects of mental illnesses in an effort to better help themselves and their peers.

Called Stop The Stigma, the mental health conference at Duncan McArthur Hall was designed to expose the participants to various aspects of mental illnesses and give them the information they need to break down the social barriers that often prevent sufferers from seeking help.

This is the second year for the conference, which is funded by the Limestone Learning Foundation and Healthy Minds Canada. About 85 students attended last year.

Andrea Barrow, a teacher of history, civics and law at La Salle Secondary School and one of the organizers of the conference, said some of the students attending may have mental illnesses themselves, others may be considering a career in the field while some may simply be interested in finding out more on the subject.

“We are trying to fill a need for students suffering from mental illness or creating more awareness to reduce the stigma associated with it so students will get the help that they need, especially in those transitional years, in their senior year of high school going into post-secondary,” she explained. “We know that that is the timeframe, between the ages of 15-24, where they are more likely to be diagnosed for the first time with some sort of mental illness. The issue becomes, how to we cope with it?”

She said the school system is getting better at identifying students with mental illnesses and getting the services in place for them.

“But it is still a lot on the students in terms of recognizing the symptoms within themselves and within their friends. So that's what the whole day is about. It's about learning how to recognize those symptoms, where to get help and that it's okay to ask for help when it's needed. If you see some of these signs, this is potentially what it happening and you should go seek some medical help.”

She agreed the conference included “some pretty heavy content,” including a physician talking about ADHD and anxiety disorders, but stressed this was what the students providing feedback from last year's conference had wanted.

Teenagers have always helped one another through crises but she hoped the day would better prepare them to provide that help.

“They rely on each other but there are other services available, as well to get the professional help they need. Today we will make them aware of those services and make them more accepting of those who may already have a diagnosis.”

Barrow said a key aspect of the event was to send that information back to the students' home schools so it could be passed on to as many people as possible.

After a keynote speaker, the students went to a variety of workshops. The topics ranged from substance use and abuse to bullying.

About 15 students from La Salle had volunteered to help out.

Several organizations had set up displays for the day.

Brenda Miller, Kingston branch manager for the Canadian Mental Health Association, said it was important for students to know “there is hope, there is recovery” from mental illnesses.

“As we know, the stigma of mental health is very pervasive. It's really important for people to be talking about mental health issues and so by having all these young people here together, especially from high school, it really provides an energy to get people talking about it and to share that information and knowledge.”

By breaking down the barriers and the stigma of mental illnesses, it makes it easier for people to come forward and say they have been experiencing anxiety or depression, she said.

Not getting treated can have tragic results.

“We know that, for ages 15-24, suicide is the second highest rate of death.”

Conferences such as the one held Tuesday are vitally important, she said.

“If we can reach a particular young person, getting them to talk about it and get the support that they need, then we have done our job. Any kind of support, I think, is going to be helpful.”

She said anxiety is one of most unrecognized yet treatable mental illnesses. Seventy per cent of people who suffer from anxiety don't seek treatment, with the disorder affecting their home and school life.

Anxiety was one of the main topics of keynote speaker Dr. Garth Smith from the Child Development Centre at Hotel Dieu Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics at Queen's University.

He said anxiety and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are the two most common conditions in children and adolescents today. About 10% of children will have an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety can manifest itself as social anxiety, separation anxiety or generalized anxiety, he told the students.

It is not unusual to be anxious over an upcoming exam or public speech but anxiety that becomes excessive and debilitating can come to affect a person's day-to-day life. It tends to get worse over time.

People seldom seek treatment and run the risk of having it adversely affect their schoolwork, social life and careers.

Dr. Smith said students could assist someone with an anxiety disorder by creating a social group of like-minded individuals. They could be a companion to someone who is shy or a protector of someone who is being bullied. They could find a common interest to develop a state of trust. Or they could form a yoga or meditation group to promote relaxation techniques.

He talked to the students about obsessive-compulsive disorders and how the activities that have to be repeated over and over again can come to control a person's life.

He said ADHD may first show its symptoms in early childhood and it can continue to be a problem into adulthood.

It has no relationship to intelligence, race or socioeconomic factors.

Children with ADHD may be easily distracted, they may be hyperactive or they may have a combination of both, he said. The latter group forms the majority.

Students can help children with ADHD by encouraging them to participate in sports, urge them to take their prescribed treatments and suggest they get involved in extra-curricular activities such as music and drama.

If not treated, ADHD can, in some cases, lead to serious problems later in life, such as substance abuse and problems in school, in the workplace and with family life.